BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is ready to leave his job as finance minister and head the Bundestag lower house of parliament, Volker Kauder, parliamentary leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives said in a statement.

The centre-right CDU/CSU bloc would propose Schaeuble as their candidate for the Bundestag post in their next meeting on Oct. 17, Kauder said.

“We are pleased that Wolfgang Schaeuble has agreed to become a candidate for the position,” he said.

The leader of the pro-business Free Democrats, Christian Lindner, said in a tweet his parliamentary group would back Schaeuble as president of the Bundestag.